This State Is the Nation's Happiest for the First Time

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Alaska edged out Hawaii and is now at the top of the rankings of
the nation's happiest states for the first time.

The nation's largest and most northern state scored highest in
the 2014 Gallup-Healthways' annual survey of well-being, with a
score of 64.7 out of 100. Alaska has previously ranked among the
top 10 happiest states, but this is the first year it has been
the winner since the survey began in 2008.

In second place was Hawaii, which held the top spot from 2009 to
2012, but in 2013 came in eighth. The
winner in 2013, North Dakota, saw a dramatic drop in its
ranking, coming in 23rd in 2014. This drop was mostly due to a
decline in North Dakotans' evaluation of their lives overall, and
also an increase in unhealthy behaviors among the population,
such as higher smoking rates and less exercise, compared with
2013, Gallup said.

The rankings are based on interviews with more than 176,000 U.S.
adults in all 50 states. The researchers calculated a well-being
score for each state, based on participants' answers to questions
about different aspects of well-being, such as their sense of
purpose, social relationships, financial lives, community
involvement and physical health. [ The
Happiest States in 2014: Full List ]

States in the Northern Plains and Mountain West tended to have
higher well-being scores than states in the South and Midwest.
Kentucky and West Virginia came in at the bottom of the rankings
for the sixth year in a row, Gallup said.

A population's well-being is important because it is closely tied
to people's health and work abilities, such as
obesity rates, workplace performance and employee engagement,
Gallup said.

States can implement initiatives to improve specific aspects of
their residents' well-being — for example, they can work with
schools, grocery stores and restaurants to include more wholesome
food options, and they can work with the government and other
entities to make changes that may improve community life, such as
making areas more walkable or increasing the number of social
activities, Gallup said.

The Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index was conducted between Jan.
2 and Dec. 30, 2014, and its well-being score has a margin of
error of about 0.1 percentage points.